Musings of a Turnaround Leader

It's August 1. The countdown to a new school year begins. There are so many theories about what makes a successful turnaround school. Is it a longer school day? Is it magnet schools? Is it charter schools? Is it eliminating unions? Is it technology? Is it investing in early childhood education? How do we replicate the work that has been done in other schools successfully? What is the magic bullet that we can say, "do this, and you will improve teaching and learning in your school?"

There isn't a magic bullet. There isn't a "one size fits all answer." If we knew the answer, we wouldn't be where we are in the first place. I do not believe that any teacher actually sets out to do harm to children - to rob them of their future through apathy and low expectations. That happens through a series of complex decisions over time. And as hard as it is to hear, we have been holding children back from reaching their full potential.

I am not an expert in turnaround schools. I just happen to be extremely passionate about turning around the school where I live, and as such, I have a few ideas about what makes a turnaround school actually turn around. The degree to which we experience success - we will save defining that for another post - but let's look at the indicators of culture/climate (this includes safety), academic achievement (both local and state assessment measures), and teacher turnover. My thoughts are not research-based and I didn't have a consultant track data for me. My thoughts on what makes a school turn around are based on my experiences in my building. Yours may be different. That's what makes this work so challenging.

• The leader has a clear vision and everyone - from the secretaries to the parents to the teachers to the children themselves - knows what the vision is and what it means. (Ours is "Every child. Every day. College and career ready. We connect what we are doing to that vision. If we are doing what every child needs, each and every day, then we are making sure that they will have the skills they need for college or career).
• The vision connects to targeted goals and those goals are rooted in data. I asked everyone what they wanted to see by the end of year one and then we backwards planned to make sure we had what was necessary to get there. So, if the number one thing was improved behavior and school culture throughout the building (and it was), what did we need to do in September, in October, in January, to make sure that we got there? We did a similar exercise for year two. Culture and climate is still number one - even though it is definitely better, we know that we have work to do to really provide what every child needs every day in terms of behavioral support and intervention.
• School-wide systems are clear, modeled, practiced, and reinforced. Everyone in the system has agency in holding the expectation high on no more than 5 do's and don'ts. (For us, we had to take a firm stance on being in the hallway without a pass based on the previous culture within the building. Everyone has to uphold that simple expectation and if someone forgets, we must all agree to remind them).
• The right people have to be on the bus. While a leader cannot hire the way to achievement, having key staff members who can move the vision forward is essential. There is no more important work for a leader than hiring and retaining the right people. That being said, if you don't have the right people, you need to take steps to fix it as soon as possible. Your staff is your classroom as a turnaround leader. They are everything. Develop, support, encourage, and build capacity - but if that doesn't get you where you need to be - do not be afraid of making necessary change.
• Acknowledge that your team is amazing regularly and in a variety of ways. Build their capacity for leadership. Show off their skills. Brag on them. Know them - like really know them - and what they are able to bring out of kids. My teachers are absolutely amazing. I am in awe of the way they push, challenge, love, question, and give so much each and every day. When I hear a kindergarten teacher asking a student to support a claim with evidence from the text or hear 2nd grade students conferring about their work with depth and understanding or watch a veteran teacher give up lunch or planning to conference with a student - I know that I have something very special. 
• Celebrate your successes. We challenged our students to read 10,000 hours to support our shift to a culture of readers. We actually thought that they would be able to do that easily - 800 kids - we thought the hours would really add up quickly! By March, we were only at 5,000 hours. Rather than continuing to say "come on and read!," we celebrated the 5,000 hours that they had accomplished by letting students with the most hours throw pie in my face. The kids loved it and it really motivated them to keep working hard. There is always more we can do - celebrate the growth and be specific about what we need to do next to get to the next level.
• Turning around a school is a bit like starting a business and it is better to know that going in. This school will become your family and the children are your children. My own family, and the families of my team, are regularly at school and they know the children and their successes. It's exhausting. It's draining. And it's so rewarding to know that you are making a difference in the lives of so many.